Parallel railway-rail bearing.



Nu. 97,08|. Y Patented Apr. 8, |902.

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PARALLEL RAILWAY RAIL BEARING;

(Application med .m1, a, 1965i.)

(No Model.)

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AITORNEY.

fmLmRms PEYERS 0. Puomfxmq. WASHINGTQN, n. c.

Umrrn Srarns MANIJEY I.

Arum FFICE.

GILBERT, OF lVATI-IENA, KANSAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 697,081, dated April 8,1902.

Application filed January 9, 1902. Serial No. 88,950. (No model.)

To @Z wwm it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MANLEY I. GILBERT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Wathena, in the county of Doniphan and State of Kansas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Parallel Railway- RailBearings; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this speeication.

My invention relates to improvements in bearings of railway-rails; andmy objects are to entirely dispense with cross-ties, providing in lieuthereof parallel metal bearings that can be readily adjusted. to thegage of any tracks, that will render the use of spikes unnecessary, thatwill have a greater and more equally distributed surface-bearing thanties, thus securing greater solidity and safety, that are adapted tocarry water off the road-bed, that will prevent the growth of weedsunder the rails, and that will be more permanent than wooden ties.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan of my invention, showing two of myparallel railbearings with the rails thereon and the connecting-rods andturnbuckle. Fig. 2 is an end view of my device, including the transversemetal straps underneath the rail-bearings. Fig. 3 is a detail side viewof the railbearing and rail, showing the water-outlet depressions, thebolts, and the clamp ends of the straps on the outer iian ge of therail-bearing. Fig. l is an end elevation of the railbearing and therail-seat with rail thereon and the shoulder and bolt by which the railis clamped to the rail-seat. Fig. 5 is a top View of a section of therail-seat with the rail removed, showing the depression in the top ofthe rail-bearing, the shoulder,and the slot end of the orifice to permitthe clamp end of the bolt to protrude and clamp over the inner flange ofthe rail. Fig. 6 is a View of one of the rail-bearing straps brokenapart and the clamp end thereof and a connecting-rod broken away. Fig. 7is a turnbuckle with the ends of two rods broken away, and Fig. 8 is anenlarged side view of the rail-bearing and its seat with rail boltedthereon and a depression in the rail-bearing under the rail to drain oiithe water.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

As shown in the drawings, A A represent metal bearings, preferably ofsteel, and. B B represent the rails. The bearings are convex, as shownin Figs. 2 and 5, are each preferably thirty feet long and twenty-fourinches in width and one-half an inch thick, can be manufactured toconform to any degree of curvature that may be desired, and are laidparallel with each other, as shown in Fig. l. The bases of these convexrail-bearings are provided with flanges a a, each flange having apreferable width of about two inches. The bearings at their tops areprovided with railseats A' A@ cast or rolled as a part of the bearing.This seat has a shoulder E on its top at the outer side, and in the baseof the inner side of this shoulder there is a groove b, adapted toreceive the outside rail-flange.

As shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4, D is an orilice extended throughseatA', the seat be ing made thick enough to admit said orifices and toafford a firm rail-seat. These orioes are adapted to receive bolts D/ D.These bolts have theirinner ends or heads bent upward at a right angleand backward at an angle suited to clamp the inner rail-flange. Theinner end of this orifice is open at the top, the seat being cut out toform a passage 7i for the head of the bolt, as shown in Fig. 5, thisslot being for the purpose of allowing the bolt to slip in and out foradjustment to any width iiangeway. The outer rail-flange being pushedinto groove Z), the bolt is readily inserted through its oriiice D untilthehead clamps the inner rail-flange. A threaded nut (l is then screwedon the end. of the bolt, and it is thus held taut. The gage of the trackbeing determined, the rail-bearings are laid upon the railroad-bedparallel with each other at the desired gage. Connection between theparallel rail-bearings is made by means of rods C C, straps C' C', andturnbuokles c c, these connections being made, usually, about iive feetapart. As shown in Figs. 1 and 6, the outer flange of each bearing isclamped from beneath by straps C C, the outer ends of said straps beingsimilar in IOO forni to that of shoulder E. The rods C C, bearing upwardtoward each other, are connected at a point half-way between the twoparallel bearings by means of the tu rnbuckle c, which may be held rigidby means of pins ff or any similar device, and the ends of the rods andthe inside of the turnbuckle are threaded. The lower ends of said rodsare bolted on the inner ends of straps C CQ While the right-angleprojections on the lower ends of rods C C serve as clamps to hold downthe inner ilanges of the railbearings. I construct strap C and rod Cseparately to enable me to adjust them or take them out for repair moreeasily than if constructed in one piece. A plate G, with bolts g g andperforations g g', cast in convex form, adapting it to fit under theends of the rail-bearings, serves for rigidly attaching therail-bearings end to end, the ends of the rail-bearings being providedwith corresponding perforations. To provide against the contraction andexpansion of the rail-bearings, these perforations are made somewhatelongated.

It will be seen that the rails can be set on and rigidly fastened totheir seat-bearings either before or after connection is made betweenthe parallel bearings and that worn or broken rails may at any time bereplaced by new ones without disturbing said connection.

The bearings and rails having been laid and rigidly connected in themanner described, the convex space beneath the rail-bearings may befilled solidly with earth. Preferably I also ll the space between theparallel bearings with dirt or ballast, so that at the center it willlill to the bottom of the turnbuckle and at the bearing 'even with thebottom of the depressions F F, which depressions are across the tops of'the' rail-'bearings beneath the rails and are provided for carrying thewater o the road-bed. Preferably I cast these depressions about eighteeninches apart, alternating with the bolts. These depressions arepreferably cast about six inches wide with a depth of about two inchesunder the rail with an incline to a depth of about three inches at theoutside of the bearing to carry the water away from the track.

I do not limit myself to the exact construcution described and shownherein, as changes may be made in the details without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

-il. The combination with a railway-rail, of a convex metal bearing, arail-seat cast or rolled at the apex of said bearing and provided withorifices and slots forming connection with the inner ends of saidorifices at their tops, the rail-seat shoulder adapted. to clamp theouter flange of the rail and the bolts adapted to operate in saidorifices and provided with nuts and threaded at their outer ends andhaving their inner ends bent to operate through the orifice-slots andclamp the inner rail-Hangs, the depressions in said bearings between thebolts to drain off water, the straps adapted to clamp the outer flangesof the rail-bearings, the rods having their lower ends adapted to formconnection with the inner ends of said straps and clamp over the innerrail-bearing anges,the turnbuckles to connect said rods and regulate thegage, and the plates provided with perforations to connect therail-bearings, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination with two lines of convex railway-bearings setparallel, of metal straps set transversely underneath said bearings theouter ends being turned backward to clamp the outer flanges of thebearings, of a turnbuckle, of the rods whose inner ends make connectionwith said turnbuckle and whose outer ends are adapted to be rigidlyfastened on the inner ends of' said straps with extended upwardly-raisedprojections adapted to clamp over the inner ilanges of the railbearings,substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

3. In a railway two parallel lines of railbearings and the seats thereonadapted to seat and clamp two parallel rails of a track, the flanges atthe bases of said bearings, the turnbuckles, the metal straps settransversely underneath said bearings provided with turned ends to clampthe outer flanges of the bearings and the rods forming connectionbetween said turnbuckles and straps and clamping down the inner flangesof the bearings, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with convex railwaybearings adapted to be setparallel, of railseats set at the apex of said convexity and providedwith orifices, bolts and shoulders with grooves for retaining the railsupon their seats, and transverse depressions in said bearings piacedalternately with said bolts to drain the water 0E the track,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MANLEY I. GILBERT.

Witnesses:

HARRY L. GILBERT, HENRY F. BRAUN.

IOO

